Customer Reviews

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Fifteenth Anniversary Edition Reconsidered, Revised, & Expanded With Twenty-Five New Essays (Random House Large Print Nonfiction)

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ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN
by Robert Fulghum is a collection of essays that reflect the author's thoughts on life, death and a whole lot of other subjects in-between.

So when I saw the 15th Anniversary Edition I naturally had to get hold of and then devour it . . . and am glad I did . . . it's GREAT!

It is also quite different . . . or as the subtitle indicates, it is "reconsidered, revised, and expanded with 25 new essays."

I liked all the new entries, but also got a kick out of revisiting the old ones . . . it was like being with friends I haven't seen before.

Fulghum is that kind of author . . . once you read him, you'll
want to get everything else he has written: IT WAS ON FIRE
WHEN I LAY DOWN ON IT, UH-OH and MAYBE (MAYBE
NOT) . . . you won't be disappointed in any of these, nor with
his latest work either.

There were several memorable passages in the 15th Edition that
I had not come across before; among them:

* "And so then what happened?"

An urgent question out of the bedtime darkness, asked by my children, when they and I were young. Just when I thought I had slam-dunked a story-ending-just when I was certain the children were safely in the arms of the sandman--a small, sleepy voice would plead, "So, then what happened?" And no matter what I replied, the plea went on, "Please, please, Daddy--tell the rest of the story."

In cranky desperation, I would resort to apocalypse: "Suddenly a
comet hit the earth and blew everything to pieces."

Silence. "What happened to the pieces?"

"It doesn't matter. Everybody died a horrible death, especially
all the little children who were not asleep." I also tried, "The father sold all the children who would not go to sleep to a passing gypsy who ground them into sausage meat. The first children to be ground up were those who would not stop asking questions."

Go ahead, shame me. But it worked. Most of the time. On reflection, I suspect such gory endings were what they really liked most. Perhaps it was a scheme to see just how far I would go--to see how crazed their father really was.

Now I am dealing with grandchildren who have the same restless
minds. I am wilier now than I used to be. To the inevitable request for more, I reply, "Only your father knows the rest of the story. Ask him to finish it when you get home."

* Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret
weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a
crisis developed, we would launch one first--before we tried
anything else. It would explode high in the air--explode softly--and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth--boxes of Crayolas. And we shouldn't go cheap either--not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the word with imagination instead
of death. A child who touched one wouldn't have his hand blown off.

* I recall an old Sufi story of a good man who was granted one
wish by God. The man said he would like to go about doing good
without knowing about it. God granted his wish. And then God
decided that it was such a good idea, he would grant that wish to
all human beings.

And so it has been to this day.

This is a classic. I had the original and Robert Fulghum expands on the ideas in this revised edition. This is the audio version, read by the author, so it's like he's talking personally to you. A thoroughly enjoyable listen.

I read and lost the first publication of this neat little book, so my only legal option was to buy another copy. However, this one has many improvements. The large type I got used to real fast and it did make the delightful text easier to read. The "rest of the story" updates only made the book better. Since nearly all of the "chapters" are not longer than three pages the book is easy to read either at one setting or just whenever you have a little time. And while many of the stories are entertainingly funny, others are poignant and gives one some cause for pause from a hectic life to think about the subtile real values which often go unnoticed.

I know nothing about the author when I picked up a casette version of this book years ago. The title was the only reason I bought it. Not having finished schooling, I thought it would be interesting to learn what I did learn in my short schooling years. For years while I was some sort of a travelling salesman, I listened to it over and over again during long drives until the tape wore out. The same fate happened to the second tape I bought later. And the third tape got eaten by the car stereo. Later on, cars no longer have casette drives so I could no longer enjoy the long listening hours even if I bought a fourth tape. So I just bought the paperback version, maybe just to make sure it occupies a permanent spot in my small book shelf, ready to be read on weekends. Enjoyed the book is simply an understatement.

Fast forward a couple of decades, I saw this CD version while browsing thru Amazon. Ordered it and soon I was listening to its latest reincarnation. Aside from the new chapters and the reconsiderations, there are also some unintended but pleasant changes. The author's voice surely can't hide the years added to his life. His narration is also noticeably slower now. But that is not to say that his narration has degraded. In fact, it sounded with more authority, sincerity, and truth. I can't imagine listening to this piece narrated by someone else. The simplistic wisdom the whole piece imparts to the listener is simply satisfying and comforting, often very amusing. This makes "All I Need to Know..." one of the best materials to spend one's passing years.

I was alerted to this book in graduate school. Having a vague memory of it, I ordered a big print copy which arrived clean but with yellowy pages. Why all the hype? It's ok but sometimes I think it got a lot of fame because a distinguished male wrote it. Really, you can find better books!